Kazuki naturally didn't know that Hiruzen had already begun to subtly suppress him.
After all, on the surface, Hiruzen was still good to him, even giving him some training notes to read.
Of course, Hiruzen wasn't so utterly deranged. If he were more ruthless, he could have sent Kazuki to the battlefield right now and assigned him some difficult missions, allowing Kazuki to die without anyone knowing.
But he wasn't that black-hearted, and even if he was, he wouldn't be so ruthless while Mito was still alive.
Instead of letting Kazuki go out on missions and rapidly grow stronger in combat, it was better to keep Kazuki in the village. If Kazuki could still grow stronger quickly in such an environment, he would accept it.
After all, Kazuki's staying in the village was perfectly legitimate. Although he had already graduated, he was still just a Genin, and only eight years old.
Arbitrarily sending an eight-year-old child to the battlefield was indefensible no matter how one looked at it.
Just like that, time passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye, two years had gone by.
Many things happened during these two years.
Hanzo, pressured by the harassment of the other Five Great Ninja Villages, brazenly declared war on the Five Great Nations, only to be soundly beaten and flee back to the Land of Rain with his subordinates, looking utterly dejected.
But no sooner had the battered Hanzo returned to the Land of Rain than, for some unknown reason, Sunagakure suddenly declared war on Konoha.
The two sides inexplicably began fighting in the Land of Rain, which became the battlefield for Konoha and Sunagakure.
This led to widespread destitution among the people of the Land of Rain.
In his fury, Hanzo once again declared war on Konoha and Sunagakure, making any Konoha or Suna ninja who entered the Land of Rain targets of his attacks.
How could the habitually arrogant Sunagakure and Konoha tolerate a small country jumping out? Dare to babble, and they'd beat you too.
Thus, Konoha fought Sunagakure and the Land of Rain, Sunagakure fought Konoha and the Land of Rain, and then the Land of Rain was soundly beaten by two countries.
While these three nations were embroiled in chaos on the land of the Land of Rain, other countries were not idle either.
Kumogakure and Iwagakure were also engaged in chaotic warfare.
It seemed only the Land of Water, isolated overseas, did not participate in the Great Ninja War, seemingly adopting a policy of isolation.
However, according to intelligence from Root in the Land of Water, it could be seen that Kirigakure was not very peaceful either, with the conflict between clans and the village intensifying.
"Huff huff huff, Kazuki, you're getting stronger and stronger. We're no match for you at all."
Nawaki lied on the ground, panting heavily, his face still bruised.
Nawaki, now twelve years old, was already quite strong, even subtly stronger than the Nawaki Kazuki encountered in the combat arena.
Evidently, driven by Kazuki as a formidable rival, Nawaki felt significant pressure, and his strength improved at a pace no slower than fighting on the front lines.
Ten-year-old Kazuki was already more than half a head taller than Nawaki. He had now exceeded 1.6 meters, taller than everyone else in the courtyard.
And in these two years, Kazuki had quietly been getting stronger. His Taijutsu, Ninjutsu, Chakra control had improved significantly compared to two years ago.
Not only had he integrated the Flying Thunder God Technique and Rasengan tactics, but he could also clearly grasp fast-moving Flying Thunder God markers, which meant he had mastered the so-called Flying Thunder God Technique Stage Two.
With Flying Thunder God Technique Stage Two, along with various Sealing Jutsu taught by Mito, and excellent Taijutsu, Kazuki felt that he should be no weaker than Minato during the Fourth Hokage's era.
Many people would think that having Chakra engraved strength meant greater power and formidable Taijutsu.
In reality, there's a certain paradox here.
Chakra enhanced strength is a special Chakra burst technique, it allows Kazuki to unleash stronger power, but if Kazuki were to punch Tsunade, he would probably be beaten to death.
From a certain perspective, the greater one's own strength and the better one's Chakra control, the stronger the power unleashed by Chakra enhanced strength.
As Kazuki's body grew stronger, his Taijutsu naturally also improved.
And in these two years, he had not failed to encounter strong opponents in the combat arena, and he had also acquired many good things.
Mikoto's ocular power, Jugo's ability to sense natural energy, Kohaku's ocular power, Setsuna's Fire Release mastery, Inabi and Tekka's ocular power, Honoka's physique, the Dark Movement Technique exploded from Senju Touka, Senju Kawarama's physique, Hinata's physique...
As Kazuki's strength grew increasingly powerful, the rewards he got from the combat arena also increased, and he became more and more like a monster, evolving towards the Ōtsutsuki.
He had already acquired the physiques of the Uchiha, Hyuga, Uzumaki, and Senju clan. Even if one or two bloodline concentrations were not enough, then two or three should suffice.
Coupled with Indra Chakra, even though Kazuki had not obtained Asura Chakra, his physique was still progressing rapidly.
Sometimes, he would even think that if he continued to grow , he wouldn't need to go out on missions. He could just stop being human and become an Ōtsutsuki.
And besides becoming more and more like an Ōtsutsuki, he also obtained various abilities and Ninjutsu through the combat arena, such as Tsunade's gambling skills, Asuma's Fire Release: Ash Pile Burning, Darui's Lightning Release: Black Panther, Chiriku's Welcoming Approach: Thousand-Armed Murder. These things also compensated for Kazuki's shortcomings.
Ahem, excluding Tsunade's gambling skills. Her gambling skills only hold one back.
Ten-year-old Kazuki didn't know what level his strength was at.
Anyway, when fighting Madara during the Valley of the End period, he was severely beaten. When fighting Pain's Six Paths during the Konoha Invasion arc, he was still beaten.
But against Tsunade during the Fifth Hokage's period, he won, which meant that he now possessed Kage-level strength. Even without the Flying Thunder God Technique, he still has the strength to contend with a Kage.
And his Chakra reserves were also rapidly increasing. If two years ago, his Chakra reserves were subtly more than Tsunade's, now he has three times Tsunade's Chakra reserves.
40 Advanced Chapters on